Investment companies are corporations or trusts that are in the business of buying and selling securities. Such companies issue shares that are bought by investors. The value of an investment company's shares is measured by adding up the value of the securities it owns (and any other assets), subtracting liabilities, and dividing by the number of outstanding shares. This figure is known as the investment company's “net asset value” (NAV). It is typically calculated once per day, at the close of the financial markets.
There are three main types of investment companies: open-end funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts (UITs). The shares issued by open-end funds and UITs are redeemable, i.e., they can be tendered back to the issuer in exchange for cash (or in rare cases securities) in an amount equal to the NAV of the shares tendered. Closed-end fund shares are not redeemable. To provide liquidity to an investment in a closed-end fund, the fund sponsor typically lists the shares for trading on a stock exchange. After the initial issuance of shares by a closed-end fund, the fund's shares are bought and sold over the exchange at market prices determined by supply and demand.
Investors who want to sell shares of a closed-end fund can do so at any time that the stock exchange is open at the then-current market price. The market price of a closed-end fund's shares differ from, and are often well below, the NAV of those shares. Shares of open-end funds and UIT's, by contrast, can be redeemed only at the NAV determined at the end of the day.
A hybrid investment company, commonly known as an “exchange-traded fund” (ETF), has recently arisen that seeks to provide investors with the best aspects of closed-end funds (intra-day liquidity) on the one hand and open-end funds and UITs (redeeming one's shares at or above NAV) on the other. ETF's are open-end funds or UIT's whose shares are listed for trading on a stock exchange. (The shares issued by ETFs are referred to herein as “ETSs,” for “exchange-traded shares.”) Unlike the conventional shares issued by open-end funds or UIT's, ETSs have certain characteristics that more closely resemble common stock or the shares of closed-end funds:
(1) ETSs are listed for trading on a stock exchange;
(2) ETSs may be bought and sold at any time during the exchange's trading hours at prevailing market prices; and
(2) The market price of ETSs fluctuates throughout the day based on supply and demand.
Although there is no requirement that they do so, ETSs issued to date track stock indices, such as the S&P 500 Index or the Nasdaq 100 Index. ETSs are particularly popular with short-term investors and traders, market timers, and speculators.
The current approach taken by an investment company sponsor that wants to offer ETSs is to create a new investment company for that purpose. The new investment company issues the ETSs. Shareholders are allowed to buy or sell the ETSs which are held in brokerage accounts.
Investment company sponsors that do not currently provide ETSs face competitive pressures to offer ETSs to their shareholders so as to retain the assets of the existing shareholders who prefer ETSs to conventional fund shares, and to attract the assets of new shareholders who may wish to trade ETSs as part of their portfolio. However, there are significant disadvantages to the current approach of creating a new investment company to offer ETSs to customers:
(1) Creation of a new investment company creates additional overhead costs for the sponsor.
(2) In the case of an index fund, a new investment company may not immediately attract a sufficient quantity of assets to accurately track its target index.
(3) Lack of cash purchases into an investment company, no matter what its size, impedes the ability of the company to track its target index and adjust the portfolio of securities.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for a scheme that would allow investment company sponsors to offer ETSs without having to create new investment companies for this purpose. The present invention fulfills such a need.